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Sean MacPherson Moves On From 'Gossip Girl'; Tries Modeling Instead

October 22, 2009 at 5:36 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

"Sometimes...when I get real nervous..."

It looks like a cameo on Gossip Girl wasn't enough for Sean MacPherson. The Bowery Hotel's Twitter tipped us off to the spread that Sean Mac did for the J. Crew Catalog. J. Crew, people. Clothes you can buy off the rack! How bourgeois!

The feature is available online here and it features Sean looking tough in a leather jacket and answering questions about his life. We learn how he likes his martinis (extra dry with three olives) and that he always carries his passport and a credit card wherever he goes. (Let's hope he has better passport-handling skills than Kristen Stewart.)

We also learn this incredibly helpful advice on how to get into a hot spot. "Start your own." Hmmm...should Andre Balazs be concerned or no?

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Chuck Bass Takes On Sean MacPherson on 'Gossip Girl'

September 29, 2009 at 9:03 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

We know that Sean Macpherson was traveling in Bhuktan last week but we sincerely hope he made it back stateside to watch himself on the last night's episode of "Gossip Girl."

In the episode, Sean played himself--a New York City hotelier--who Chuck Bass approaches with his nightclub plans (and tries to retrieve a Patrick McMullan photo of Sean.) Interestingly, Sean's hotel on the show was The Empire Hotel but we all know that he's the man behind The Bowery, The Maritime, The Lafayette House and The Jane Hotel as well as the restaurant, the Waverly Inn.

In the end, Chuck Bass thought, why own a nightclub in a hotel when you could buy the whole hotel? And that's exactly what plenty of young men with too much money probably did during the heyday of the hotel industry, guest services be damned. Seriously, Chuck Bass a hotelier? Then again, he does have the love and devotion of Blair Waldorf. We'll have to see how this turns out.

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Tune Hotels Co-Founder Tony Fernandes Says They're Coming To America

September 22, 2009 at 8:48 AM | by JetSetCD | 3 Comments

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to get mogul Tony Fernandes on the phone to discuss a few things surrounding the arrival of his Air Asia X airline on US soil. He also happens to be the man behind the Kuala Lumpur-based chain of budget Tune Hotels.

While we were discussing the likelihood of the US seeing cheap flights to Southeast Asia on Air Asia X, we didn't forget to slip in a few questions regarding if Tune Hotels would come along for the ride.

And here's what Tony said...

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The Surrey Hotel Promises 'Considered Moments' For Its Guests

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 20 East 76th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10021
September 21, 2009 at 10:27 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.

Last week, we attended an event for the soon-to-open Surrey Hotel on New York's Upper East Side. But this was a little different than most "Getting to Know You" parties.

For starters, the event was held in Beverly Hills so that West Coast folk could get a more intimate look at the hotel without having to fly to NYC. The party was also held at the Cartier store on Rodeo Drive which might seem a little presumptuous but if you recall, the hotel plans on having a Cartier Closet in its lobby.

This exclusive retail space will offer guests the chance to buy smaller luxury items that they may have forgotten to bring with them such as cufflinks and sunglasses. (Yes, regular Cartier prices will be charged here.)

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Good Luck Trying To Book a Room at Richard Gere's Hotel

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 954 Old Post Road [map], Bedford, NY, United States, 10506
September 3, 2009 at 2:44 PM | by juliab | 1 Comment

Just as all normal folk would and should be, we were highly excited at the prospect of sleeping with Richard Gere when we first got wind of his plans to open up an eight-bedroom bed and breakfast above his restaurant at the Bedford Post Inn in New York State.

So when we spied on the website that the B&B (the Inn part of the title) was already in its soft opening period, we thought we’d try and go along. The only problem – there were no prices advertised, and the website didn’t take reservations. No matter, we thought; we’ll just call.

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Chef Todd English Gets Out of the Kitchen and Into the Great Jones Hotel

Where: 25 Great Jones Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10012
August 14, 2009 at 9:45 AM | by juliana | 1 Comment

The NYC Construction-philes at Curbed recently checked out the new boutique hotel going up in NoHo on Lafayette Street--The Great Jones Hotel & Spa--and found that there is nothing really great about the hotel's building progress. Curbed writes:

When we last checked in on the long-time-coming Great Jones Hotel astride Lafayette Street in Noho back in February, we counted six floors above the existing two-floor structure. Now: only seven more floors to go before the scheduled February 2010 opening! Nearly six months later, a whopping five more floors have been added. Hmm.

The hotel is going to be very small with only 48 rooms, a spa (connected actually to the already existing Great Jones Spa), a lounge/restaurant/bar and some retail space.

And the emphasis here might be on the lounge/restaurant/bar space as we found out that celeb chef Todd English is the man behind this new hotel, according to NoHo News. Yup, add Todd English to the Hot Hoteliers list.

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Guess Who's Probably Not Allowed at Above Allen or A60?

July 10, 2009 at 12:11 PM | by juliana | 2 Comments

Ali Wise, the blonde armcandy to Thompson Hotels' Jason Pomeranc for many years, was arrested the other day for hacking into another blonde's voicemail accounts using some computer software called SpoofCard. No one knows for sure why Wise would be so unwise and hack into this person's voicemail but a few reports speculate that it may have something to do with affairs of the Pomeranian...er....Pomerancian heart.

NY Daily News reports that Wise is "cuckoo" over Pomeranc who she split from late last year but has been reportedly seeing on and off. Sources says she may have used the Spoofcard to hack into his voicemails and emails to find out if he was dating other women. CityFile even reminds us that Pomeranc and co. were victims of a hacking incident last year that remains unsolved.

But apparently, it's not just love that drives Wise to obsession.

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Hyatt Promises 'Random Acts of Generosity'

May 22, 2009 at 10:13 AM | by Jenna | 0 Comments

Hyatt has a surprise for you! Actually, Hyatt has a surprise for Hyatt Gold Passport members. Maybe not for you.

Over on his USA Today Hotel Check-In guest blog, Hyatt's CEO announced that, after having dinner with a bunch of loyal Hyatt customers to find out what they were wantin', the megachain learned that people are really just looking for an "authentic" hospitality experience. Makes sense — especially since one of the biggest drawbacks to the big-box, high-volume hotel experience can be impersonal service.

The solution? "Random acts of generosity":

In just a couple weeks, the folks who run Gold Passport will be reaching out to surprise and delight Hyatt guests in a whole new way. We will be empowering hotel employees to perform what we’re calling random acts of generosity. So, don’t be surprised if Gold Passport picks up your bar tab, comps your massage or treats your family to breakfast. It’s part of bringing authentic hospitality to life and making you feel more than welcome.

Okay. Sort of vague — but, we guess, uh, smile and be nice to the employees and they will be nice to you back? Maybe? Eh — just keep an eye open for some "random acts of generosity" — and tell us if you happen to be one of the lucky recipients.

[Photo: opacity]

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Hyatt's CEO Gets His Bloggin' On

May 19, 2009 at 11:01 AM | by Jenna | 1 Comment

Hyatt would like you to know that they understand the Internet. They're a big-box hotel chain, yes — but look! They're down with that Twitter stuff and the blogs that kids these days are so into (note: being social media-savvy does not mean they are allowed to put any less effort into their booking website; it should, like every hotel website should, strive to be freakishly easy-to-use).

Over at USA Today's Hotel Check-In, Hyatt Hotels CEO Mark Hoplamazian is bloggin' away — well, he's written two blog entries on Check-In's monthly "Checking in with the Chief" series, that is.

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A New Ian Schrager Hotel is Coming to Manhattan

Where: 1414 Avenue of the Americas [map], New York, NY, United States, 10019
May 13, 2009 at 9:37 AM | by Jenna | 3 Comments

Ian Schrager has been sorta quiet lately, no? After announcing plans for Edition Hotels (the Schrager/Marriott hybrid, about which we've heard very little lately, come to think of it), he kinda dropped off our radar — but, as it turns out, he's poised to make a big ol' hotel industry comeback on his own, too, and has got something up his sleeve for Manhattan.

The New York Post reported this morning that the Schrager-man has just worked out an a deal to turn an office building at Avenue of the Americas and 58th Street in Manhattan into "not just a two- or three-star establishment, but a 'six-star' luxury Ian Schrager Hotel."

This ain't no Edition, folks (or at least it really doesn't seem to be): this is going to be an Ian Schrager Company project (he's got something in the works in Miami as well), and we're pretty psyched to see what's up his sleeve on this one — and though we're prepared to stalk the hell out of this baby when the time comes, work isn't going to start on the new hotel until at least 2010 when some leases expire and the building empties out.

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Starwood CEO Dishes Minimal Dirt in Portfolio.com Interview

April 27, 2009 at 9:18 AM | by Jenna | 0 Comments

Portfolio.com had the opportunity to corner Starwood's CEO, Frits van Paasschen, as he chilled at a corner banquette at last Thursday's W Hoboken opening bash. And before we delve into the content of the interview, we will just go ahead and mention that, no, he didn't want to talk about the Starwood/Hilton lawsuit. No hot goss there. Actually, there wasn't a whole lot of hot goss at all — but he did make a few interesting comments about Starwood's branding strategy and what the hotel group was doing differently due to the economy.

First and foremost, we have some bad news for you: the SPG free weekend stays deal is probably as generous as the hotel group is gonna get. So if you were holding out to wait and see if the economy continues to tank in hopes of scoring an ever better offer, we should tell you that van Paasschen said:

...When you drop all the way down, it's very difficult to come back up so we're being very disciplined of where we're offering discounts. [...] We are being creative and I think the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) free weekends campaign and promotion is a great example of that. This is probably our most generous offer ever. And what it basically says is if you stay with us twice, you'll get a free weekend night. And the whole point is to try to get people back out and traveling again.

Sounds like they aren't gonna be getting any more generous than that.

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Steve Wynn Works His A-Game On a Mystery Blonde at XS

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89109
April 17, 2009 at 9:26 AM | by Jenna | 4 Comments

Fresh off his '60 Minutes' spotlight segment that aired on Sunday, Steve Wynn got dressed in his club-goin' outfit and stepped out for a night of excess at his very own XS nightspot inside the Encore Las Vegas. And, well... just look at these photos, captured by none other than TMZ. How awesome is this? Nobody can accuse the Wynnster of not knowing his clientele — he's out on the club floor with the ugly-shirted masses. Except he's wearing a goofy shirt cause, hell, he's Steve Wynn and he can do whatever he wants.

We wonder if he was working his A-Game on this hot blonde or if they were just hangin' together. Remember, he and wife (and professional colleague) Elaine filed for divorce just recently. Could he be hitting the dating circuit for another go-round?

Actually, we wonder what it would feel like to be approached by a tan older gentleman, catch a glimpse of his blindingly-white smile and listen to him introduce himself over the thumping bass by saying, "hey, I'm Steve. I own the place."

Swoon.

[Photo: TMZ]